How To Use Tor to Access Blocked Sites at Work and School

The web was built to be open, with people freely sharing and accessing information. However, many employers and schools block access to certain websites to preserve the productivity of their employees and students. Your boss still insists that those reports be finished before you share pictures of last nights exploits on Facebook. What a party pooper.

Sometimes legitimate websites that you actually need to get your work done are blocked, or maybe you're on break you'd like to check your Twitter feed. For those times, you may want to consider setting up and using a Tor network. A Tor network is a network of proxy servers that can reroute your Mac's Internet traffic, bypassing any filters that your company or school may have set up.

Setting up your computer to connect to the Tor network of proxy servers is an easy task thanks to some well-developed software available for Mac, Linux, and Windows. There’s even a browser plugin bundle, but it’s currently in beta.

With Vidalia (the Tor client for Mac), you can connect to any server in the Tor network to reroute your Internet traffic. To learn how to do this, follow our steps in the gallery below.

Note: There are some things to remember when using Tor. Check out the Tor download document for more information on how to protect your data when using the Tor network (or really, any computer on the Internet). You should also remember that it is proper Tor etiquette not to abuse the network (by staying connected to it for longer than you need to use it for), as the network is powered by volunteer Internet connections. Also, remember that because Tor is rerouting your Internet traffic, your IP Address may appear to be from a different location (or even a different country).

Disclaimer: Finally, there's probably a good reason your work/school blocks some of these sites. I think you know what were talking about. Don't blame us when you get fired or kicked out of school.

Once you are on the download page, scroll down to the "Apple OS X" download section and download the stable build for your system. There are versions for both PowerPC and Intel Macs. There is also a Browser Bundle that you can optionally download (we won't be covering this browser tool).

Install and launch the Vidalia client from the Application folder on your Mac. When you do, Vidalia will automatically establish a connection to the Tor network. Once this is completed, a dialog stating "Connected to the Tor network!" will be shown at the top of the application.

Now that we have connected to the Tor network through the Vidalia client, we need to configure your Mac to reroute all of the Internet traffic. To do this, navigate to System Preferences > Network. Click on the connection you use (Ethernet, AirPort, etc.), and then click on the Advanced button.

After clicking Advanced, a new dialog will appear. Click on the Proxies tab. Once there, check the box for the "SOCKS Proxy" option. After doing that, type "localhost" in the first field for that section, and "9050" in the second field. Once done, click OK on this dialog and Apply on the System Preference pane behind it.

After setting up the SOCKS Proxy in System Preferences, open your favorite browser and navigate to https://check.torproject.org/. If you get a green sign stating, "Congratulations. Your browser is configured to use Tor," then you have successfully set up Tor on your Mac. When you want to disconnect from the Tor network, shut down the Vidalia client and uncheck the SOCKS Proxy in your Network System Preferences pane.

This is a helpful tip, but it should come with a BIG caveat. If you work at someplace that locks down certain types of sites and get caught circumventing these policies you have a problem.
Maybe the followup to this article should be, "How to find a new job when you get fired for violating company security". Just sayin'.